8/25/14

Ready Set Write! Wrap Up

Hello, and welcome to my wrap up post for Ready Set Write!

Ready Set Write, a weekly blogging meme hosted by Katy Upperman, Alison Miller, Jamie Morrowand Erin L. Funkcomes to a close this week. I participated faithfully through Week 9, but fell out of the routine for the 3 final weeks due to travel and the ongoing/increasing distraction of kids at home. Nevertheless, I wanted to wrap things up and tie a bow around my experience. And look ahead to the next chapter in my writing adventure.

Did I accomplish my overall goals for the summer? No. I had hoped to wrap up my first draft of THREADS OF LIGHT, and I fell short. However, I did add a whole lot of new words, and had some plot breakthroughs that I hope will see me to the end quickly this fall. All in all, I feel like I made enough progress, given other priorities, to feel good about the summer's writing accomplishments.

What did I learn from Ready Set Write? Three things pop to mind:

One | The weekly blog post helped to keep me focused and accountable. I liked the routine of reporting out on my progress (or lack of it) each week, and setting new goals. Even though I didn't always meet them, I am convinced I did better than I would have without this routine.

Two | Summer is a tough time to write, especially during travel weeks and weeks where one or more kids are not in camp. But, I made peace with that by the end of the summer. I decided it was totally OK to let the focus shift to being fully in adventure mode or in kids-at-home mode. Having the flexibility to go with the flow of life is a big reason why I left my corporate job behind, after all. If I don't take advantage of that, I'm missing out on one of the big benefits of my new lifestyle.

Three | I still love to write. I was going strong in the first half of summer, and felt the accumulated benefit of weeks of daily writing strung together. It had started to feel totally routine. Writing every day was just something I did. So, even though my writing gave way to other priorities by the second half of summer, I feel optimistic that I can regain that magical momentum if I put my mind to it. Summer's challenges didn't discourage me. I'm ready to power back up and face the fall with a fresh pencil and a refreshed mind.

Stay tuned for ongoing updates on my progress on Wednesdays as part of the "What's Up Wednesday" meme, which I plan to continue participating in this Fall.

Here's to fall, fresh starts, and getting back to routine. Thanks for reading these Monday posts this summer!

2 comments:

Summer really is a tough time to write. I struggled with it myself, especially being away on vacation. But like you say, just having that bit of accountability is enough to keep us doing something instead of succumbing to the temptation to do nothing. I'm so happy you joined us this summer, and I'm looking forward to following your progress on Wednesdays. :-)